Dr. Jeffrey Blasius
NESO President
Greeting NESO colleagues:
With the onslaught of emails, I will attempt to keep this brief. It is amazing how suddenly and dramatically our worlds have changed in such a brief moment of time. A new ‘normal’ has emerged. The sight of people wearing masks in public, the shelves at our favorite stores being empty, home schooling our children, abandoned vacation plans, managing orthodontic emergencies via teledentistry, and the sudden urge to purchase copious amounts of toilet paper even though we don’t need any are just a few of things that have jolted our everyday lives.
I would encourage any member that has not done so, to make sure you add the AAO daily bulletin, the ADA morning huddle, and your State/ Provincial Dental Society to your Favorites web pages. There are numerous other resources also available to help guide you through these murky waters of the COVID 19 pandemic. I hope many of you were able to take advantage of the IEDL grants and PPP loans available from the Federal government. Even though the timing and the forgivable loan feature may not work as ideally as we wish, these loans will be a great way to jump start our practices when the Stay at home orders are lifted.
Each State/ Province will have individual guidelines developed to ensure our staff and patients’ safety upon returning to the office. There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon that we may be able to shortly return to work to care for our many wonderful patients.
This article was originally concentrating on the meeting in Montreal on November 6-7, 2020 at the Bonaventure hotel. We are hopeful that we will be able to cross the border, host a great meeting, and members will feel safe to travel at that time. Time will still tell. Our amazing group of dedicated volunteers of the NESO Board has been meeting weekly. If there is anything we can do to help, please feel free to reach out to my personal email at drblasius@outlook.com . We are truly all in this together, one day at a time. Wishing you, your loved ones, and dedicated staff continued good health and safety during these unprecedented times.
With warm regards,
Jeff Blasius
NESO 2020 President